business studies

• Needs


  Goods and services that are essential to sustain life e.g. food, clothing shelter
• Wants


  Those things we desire to have which are in addition to our needs
• Services


  Something other people do for us
• Consumers


  people who consume goods and services
• Goods


  Commodities/tangible items that are bought and sold in markets
• Producers


  anyone involved in the production process
• Natural resources


  Resources provided by nature
• Renewable resources


  Resources that can naturally regenerate/regrow in a reasonable time frame
• Non-renewable resources


  Natural resources that do not regenerate/regrow in a reasonable time frame
• Capital resources


  Man made resources used in the production process of other goods and services
• Capital intensive production


  Where relatively more capital than other resources is used in the production process
• Consumer goods


  Man made resources for private household use
• Human resources


  Workers used in the production process
• Labour intensive production


  Where relatively more labour than other resources is used in the production process
• Primary sector


  Firms involved in the production and extraction of natural resources
• Secondary sector


  Firms that process the raw materials or resources into finished or semi-finished goods
• Interdependence


  Individuals, groups and producers rely on each other to provide what they no longer are able to provide for themselves
• Production


  The process of creating goods and services
• Productivity


  The relationship between inputs and outputs
• Specialisation


  Concentration on the production of one type of output, and becoming skilful in the job
• Division of labour


  Splitting of a specialist job into a number of separate
• Economics


  The study of how scarce resources are best used
• Scarcity


  Unlimited wants relative to limited means/resources
• Means


  An individual's personal resources
• Choice


  making a decision between 2 or more alternatives
• Opportunity Cost


  The next best alternative foregone when a decision is made
• Free goods


  items that are plentiful and no price is paid for them
• Economic goods


  items that are scarce and a price is paid for them
• Demand


  the ability and willingness to buy a good or service at each price
• The Law of Demand


  as the price of a good or service increases, the quantity demanded decreases, vice versa
• Ceteris paribus


  all other non-price factors (that could influence demand) remain the same
• Demand Schedule


  A table of quantity demanded at each price
• Demand Curve


  A graph of quantity demanded at each price.
• Substitute Goods


  Items that can be used in place of each other.
• Complementary Goods


  Items that are bought to be used together
• Values


  The core beliefs/principles that a person has. These will influence a person's demand
• Change in quantity demanded


  movement along the demand curve as a result of a change in the price of the good/service
• Change in demand


  shift of the whole demand curve as a result of a change in the non-price (ceteris paribus) factors for the good/service
• Income


  earnings of an individual
• Commission


  percentage of a sales price received by a salesperson